Sometimes your best work is to stop working for a while. Kick your
shoes off and pull your nose back from the grindstone. Take a break,
any kind of break. Take a coffee break, a stretch break, break bread or
break out in song. Read on for inspiration to break free and put some
spring in your writing.

Break New Ground

Break new ground for yourself by writing about
something different or writing differently about something familiar.
Pick an intriguing topic you know little about. Follow your interest,
research it, and pitch an article. You may find yourself in an
unexpected market and decide to spend some time there. Or write within
your realm but take a different position. Find a new angle. Argue the
extreme. You will grow as a writer and a thinker whether or not you
publish the piece.

Break new ground for your reader. Take me
to a place within myself that I didn't know existed. Entice me to care
about something I care nothing about. Leave me with such a compelling
argument for a minority position that I'm no longer convinced of the
majority. Confront me with my own prejudice. Startle me. Give me writing
so good about something so bad that I can't stand to read it, but
neither can I stop. I once read an article about the finer points of
interrogation. I was horrified by the grisly details and riveted by the
quality of the writing. It was beautiful writing about pure ugliness.
That author broke new ground.

Break with Tradition

Readers follow writers for the same reason
people eat at McDonald's - they like what they get and they know what
to expect. That consistency, that acquaintance, is essential for
developing a marketable platform and growing your personal brand.
However, even the most fervent french fry hound (that would be me) has a
finite capacity for a good thing - even a thing as good as hot, crispy
golden fries - and will, at some point, want something else.

Tempt your readers with novelty. Give them you,
but with uncharacteristic humor or sarcasm or solemnity. The best way to
change your voice without losing who you are is to include your
readers. Confide in them. Let them know up front that "Between you and
me, I'm tired of being sensible. I'm about to give you something
completely unexpected, but I think you can handle it. I trust you to
understand."

Break off a Relationship

Have the guts and good sense to walk away from a
bad relationship. If you value your Self and your craft don't spend time
with people who don't. I've learned not to stay with clients who don't
pay or who won't sign a contract, those who ignore my requests (for
reference material, draft approval, or interviewee contact information),
and those who insist that the only way they can work with a writer is
for their internal team to call me every other day to discuss my
progress on the project, which usually means I listen for an hour as
they change direction on every one of the major details we achieved
consensus on two days prior. Yes, I need to put food on the table, but I
also need to be sane enough to prepare it. Toxic relationships simply
cost too much.

Break the Rules

Grammar. Usage. Slang. As George Orwell said, "A
writer can do very little with words in their primary meanings. He gets
his effect if at all by using words in a tricky roundabout way."

Subscribe to receive my bi-monthly Onwords™ column, and join me next time for "The Art of the Advertorial".